Our Readers Experience of Meeting Robert Pattinson At The WFE NYC Premiere

Our readers Lydia, IamMelissa & DeansHoneyBear were lucky enough to go to the NYC "Water For Elephants" Premiere and to meet Robert Pattinson.

They have been good enough to send us their story, pics and a great video to share with you.

I know you will enjoy these and I apologise for only getting around to posting them now.
As you know it's been a little bit hectic around here keeping up with Mr Pattinson's activities of late!



GAH SO close up. Look at those eyelashes!







Read their experience (told by Lydia) and see TONS more pics After The Cut!


We did it!

I apologize for the length, but so much happened in a very short time period.
I say “we” since my incredible experiences were only possible through a group effort for which I am truly grateful. I arrived at New York City’s Penn Station at 4:30 pm on Saturday, April 16 after 1.5 hour train ride from Philadelphia with very little sleep due to worrying whether or not I had everything covered on the home front, not to mention for my trip.
When I exited the train station into the pouring rain, there were no cabs to found, so I slung my backpack on my back, the camp chair over my shoulder (I owed a debt of gratitude to DeansHoneyBear for mentioning that she was bringing one or I would not have thought to go out and purchase a cheap one for $14) and dragged my little wheeled suit case down 7th Avenue figuring I would catch a cab along the way. I passed several people in the streets trying to flag down cabs without success, so I just kept walking.

I was so anxious to meet my roommate, IamMelissa, for the first time and get ready for the cocktail party hosted by the wonderful women from the WaterforElephantsFilm site. I had called her cell # and sent text messages, but got no response, so I was getting a little worried. IamMelissa had sent me an e-mail with the room #, so I know she had made it OK. In my haste, I ended up walking all 20+ blocks to the Hilton Hotel loaded up like a pack mule in the pouring rain. My plan was to knock on the door for Room 1540 and hope that some random stranger didn’t open it with a blank look on their face wondering why I was bothering them.
I knocked on the door and called her name since I didn’t want to scare her. I felt tremendous relief when the door opened and I received such a warm and friendly greeting. She welcomed my bedraggled self in right on in. She had been worried about me too since she hadn’t heard from me. It turned out that I had the 2nd and 3rd numbers of her cell phone # transposed. I am so thankful to IamMelissa, since she allowed me, a complete stranger, to share her room and the split cost. Otherwise, I would not have been able to swing the cost of 2 nights at $300+ a night. Even though she arrived at 9 am from Chicago, she waited a couple of hours until a room facing the Ziegfeld Theater became available.

Ten minutes after I arrived there was a knock on our door and IamMelissa and I had the pleasure of meeting DeansHoneyBear who had traveled by herself from Long Island. The 3 of us proceeded to get spruced for the cocktail party. Even though we were essentially complete strangers, there was instantly complete camaraderie. The 3 of us would have never met if it weren’t for the wonderful women who have created and maintained the Robsessed blog which fosters such a sense of community.
At the cocktail party, we met the amazing WFE fan site kinkers who have built the most complete and robust movie blog ever developed. Poor Tink probably didn’t know what hit her when she met us. To use DeansHoneyBear’s expression, we “fan-girled-out.” Conveniently, the path leading away from the Kinkers lead us directly to the bar where we ordered very potent and delicious Camelpolitans which we enjoyed while waiting our turn to meet Mark Povinelli. While in line, we met Pattid57 who I have talked to a couple of times since she works with my husband, but I had never actually met her. When we met Mark, he very graciously signed our WFE books and posed for photos with the 3 of us.

L-R Lydia, IamMelissa, Mark, DeansHoneyBear

He said he was surprised that the book and movie had such a following. He was very sweet.
From the cocktail party we could see the queue beginning in front of the theater, so we decided to join the fun. After a quick change which involved piling on several layers, we lugged our chairs and bags and joined the line a little after 7pm. As we stood there in the rain, we were concerned that we were out of luck since there already appeared to be about 200 people in line, but we decided to stick it out. Sometime after 9pm, we got to see the talented Tink again as she checked on those of us in the line. Shortly after that, the very pretty and very petite Sara Gruen came down the line with no umbrella and no coat to meet everyone and sign anything anyone wanted. She was so generous with her time and truly showed her appreciation. I had left my book in our hotel room since I hadn’t wanted it to get ruined in the rain. So, she graciously posed for a picture for me.

As we were cozily tucked between two metal barriers, Drew, Giovanni, and Carlos kept us safe and did their best to take care of the motley lot of us. They stayed out in the cold rain completely unprotected the entire time with us. Carlos had developed rock-star status with us pretty early on. They allowed us to take bio / coffee / cig breaks, etc. any time anyone needed one throughout the entire time which helped tremendously. They looked out for us with plenty of respect, charm, and most importantly humor.

At around 10pm, someone took an unofficial count and we were around 165-170 in line which was our first glimmer of hope that we would be included in the 200 even allowing for a fairly wide margin for error. At that point it was just a steady light rain, but it was bearable. That all changed around mid-night when the skies opened up in a torrential down-pour. The pounding rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning, came down so hard and fast that the rain pooled several inches deep and then flowed like a river across our feet completely covering our shoes. At that point, it was impossible to stay dry – everyone was soaked. Standing there in my keds where it felt like I was wearing water shoes and just walked into the ocean, I was starting to question my fortitude let alone my sanity. My portable umbrella wasn’t cutting it, so I purchased a large golf-like umbrella from a vendor for $15, it worked so much better since it covered so much more.

Around 1am, Carlos carefully stopped traffic and relocated us – squishy shoes and all - across the street by 15’s so that we were on the Hilton Hotel sidewalk within the protected barriers in the same order. From that vantage point we had a clear view of the time and temperature displayed on the tower beyond the theater, which was a blessing and a curse. It was good to know the time, but when you looked up and noticed that what you thought felt like 5 minutes was actually only 1 it was a little disheartening. By then, we had acquired 2 new and wonderful additions to our little trio, Natalie from Boston and Jeni from New Jersey (by way of London, NZ and a few other places first). Both were there by themselves. We also discovered that if you sat in your camp chair and held the umbrella close to your head, you weren’t quite so cold. So, we created a little “tent” of sorts with our umbrellas overlapping.

At 2:30, Carlos and Giovanni, et al delivered pizza to us compliments of Fox. This was greatly appreciated as I sat there completely soaked and shivering wearing 5 layers of clothing (tank top, t-shirt, sweater, zippered jacket, hoodie, trenchcoat along with soaked gloves to complete the ensemble). The temperature was between 47 – 49 degrees the entire time. When you stood up, you could feel the cold down to your marrow. When taking a bio break, it felt so good entering the nice warm hotel (of which I was a guest), one was sorely tempted to not return to the brutally cold wet line. The irony was not lost on me that I was spending the night in the cold rain on the sidewalk of the very hotel that was costing us $300+ a night.

I have never been so cold and wet for so long – ever, never ever. If it weren’t for support and caring shown by everyone in the line as well as those caring for us, I wouldn’t have been able make it to the end. Around 5 am, Carlos and company served us Dunkin Donuts and hot chocolate. Then, at 7 am they distributed bottles of spring water, which were (unintentionally) actually warm. So, instead of drinking it, I just held it between my freezing hands. It felt so good to hold something warm as we shivered in the cold.
Somewhere around 6 am, some lunatic completely dry from head to toe actually had the audacity to ask me if I minded if she cut line in front of me as I sat there soaking wet and shivering to the bone. I’ll leave my very predictable response up to your imagination. We’d come that far, there was no way anyone was giving up or letting anyone else give up. We all took care of each other. Some were able to catch little naps of 10-15 minutes, I couldn’t.
As the dawn broke, the construction crew arrived to setup the red carpet, so that provided us plenty of entertainment for the last grueling couple of hours. At one point, one of the construction workers held-up his arms for us to cheer –we started to – and then we saw Drew (Carlos’ boss) wildly gesturing from across the street for silence then pointed at his watch and the hotel, it was hilarious. We were up and wide awake it didn’t occur to us that no one else was. We got to see the workers change the marquis, setup the press bleachers along with the scaffolding and lights, drag out the rolls of red carpet and velvet ropes, etc. The workers were well aware that they had a mostly female audience of a couple of hundred, I’ll just leave it at that. ;).
Around 8 we were asked to pick up the trash. Jen took the initiative to find bags and go up and down the line collecting everyone’s trash. Picture what soggy pizza boxes and paper cups, etc that have been in the rain for hours would be like and you’ll get the idea of how much harder it was to peal the trash off the sidewalk. When Carlos finally left after being out in the rain with us all night, he waved goodbye to a cheering crowd yelling their thanks.

At 9am, the long awaited moment arrived and we all received our pink numbered wristbands with the instructions to return between 3 to 3:45 pm. I looked to see # 150 written on my wristband. What a relief, we actually made it!! As IamMelissa and I headed into the Hilton all of my layers of cold drenched clothing clung to me and water squished in my sneakers as I walked. Originally, I thought that a hot shower would be nice, but the thought of being in more water was so completely unappealing since I was so pruney already. I just wanted desperately to be warm and dry. In the hotel room, I was running out of places to hang-up all of my layers of soggy clothing.
Once dressed in dry clothes and no longer shivering, we were famished. So, I volunteered to go hunt down some breakfast. The one problem was that it was only 47 degrees and I had no dry outerwear. So, in a t-shirt and jeans and high-heeled boots (my sneakers were just too wet), I went to the store in the lobby to purchase some kind of sweatshirt. My choices were either a neon-pink hoodie with New York City emblazoned across the front or a gray fleece, I opted for the gray fleeced since I don’t need to call more attention to myself or my bosom.
Once finished with breakfast, IamMelissa managed to catch a nap, but I couldn’t. I passed the time by watching the workers across the street assemble the red carpet. I did eventually manage to sleep a whole hour before we had to get ready to be out on the street again. At 3:10, IamMelissa and I met up with Natalie and Jen (who is close to 6ft tall was dressed as a circus performer, complete with a multi-colored tutu) in the VIP section and minutes later we were joined by DeansHoneybear. The skies had cleared and it was warm and sunny. The energy was incredible on the street. We completely forgot how tired and sore we were. DeansHoneyBear, being the brilliant woman than she is, recommended that we specialize in order to make the most of our experience. So, IamMelissa manned her video recorder, DeansHoneyBear took pictures and my job was to get signatures.

We had the pleasure of seeing so many people arrive including the Pattinson’s (Clare, Richard, Victoria, and Lizzy), Hal Halbrook, Ken Foree, Julia Stiles, and so many others. There wasn’t the constant screaming as I’ve seen in vids of Twi promos. There were little bursts in certain sections, so we didn’t know that Rob had actually been there for several minutes until one of the security personnel confirmed for us that he arrived. Rob really took his time going down the line and gave everyone as much attention as he could. He posed with pictures with anyone who asked. He actually paid attention to what he was signing. It was great to see a very happy, smiley Rob. He’s even more beautiful in person. He’s really very stunning. We got to see the very efficient and well-built Dean very close-up as well.

I’m 5’4” and Natalie, who was standing in front of me is only about 5’ tall. There was only one woman in front of Natalie who was about my height. So when Rob was in front of us, I stacked the open books in an overlapping fashion – ON TOP OF NATALIE’S HEAD (she’s such a sweetheart) – and Rob with his boarding house reach, leaned over and signed both of them. So, I got to see his lovely bendy fingers very close-up.

Several minutes later we got to see the lovely and beautiful Reese Witherspoon. Her gorgeous dress suited her perfectly. She was flanked on either side by enormous body guards who just scowled at the lot of us. She was also very gracious with her time. She also posed for as many fan pictures and signed all of the autographs that she could. But due to her petite stature, there wasn’t a prayer that we could get her autograph. She lacked Rob’s reach.
We could see the press interviews being held and the continuous celebrity arrivals. Intermittently we would see Carlos and cheer him on. He must have had a bet going on with someone because at one point from across the street, Carlos mouthed “say my name” and when we all began to chant “Carlos. Carlos. . .” the guys around him burst into laughter. We got some strange and confused looks because those outside of the 200 of us had no idea who Carlos was or why we would be chanting his name.
There was so much activity to take in. The excitement and energy continued until a little after 7 pm. Shortly thereafter, we were thanked and dismissed. We thanked Drew for his care of us. When Carlos waved goodbye he was met again with cheers from us. We hugged and said goodbye to our new found friends and left with a tremendous sense of accomplishment since we did what we set out to do.
Skipping ahead, as if we didn’t have enough fun standing in line on a NYC street corner, IamMelissa and I got up at 4 am on Monday and were in line sipping the complimentary coffee for the Today’s Show shortly after 5 am. We ran into Jeni still sporting her tutu and she was with other friends also dressed-up. As IamMelissa and I were waiting in the plaza waiting for the Today to begin when we were joined by PattiD57 and one of her friends. They were outside of the Ziegfeld when the premiere ended and managed to get Christoph’s autograph and were able to see others as well. We also discovered that the 2 women in front of us actually attended the premiere as part of the press. They said that they movie was even better than they had expected and that there were some changes, but the changes were good. So, I really can’t wait to see this movie!
For the longest time, we could see Rob and Dean’s reflections in the revolving doors. Finally, he came out sporting sun glasses with Dean, Nick, and Stephanie in tow. He was across the plaza from us and again took his time with each and every fan posing for any pictures or signing any autographs asked for. Due to the limited time before the studio interview, he didn’t get a chance to get to our section. We got to listen to the interview and could see it on the TV screens. The microphones and speakers weren’t always turned off between segments, so throughout the broadcast in general, we got to hear very random things. One of the best parts though, was Rob was obviously asked to do some kind of station identification for the Today’s Show 60th anniversary. He kept screwing-up and giggling between takes and apologizing and asking to do it again. Somewhere in there he said something like “I can’t even speak English today, sorry.” He’s got such a great infectious giggle, you couldn’t help but smile.
After leaving Rockefeller Plaza, we stopped off at Duane Reade’s to get some sodas and water, etc. When the cashier handed me my change, I noticed that one of the coins was a wheat penny (US pennies minted between 1909 and 1959 which have 2 ears of wheat on the back – I serendipitously collect them). I flipped it over to check the year and was startled to find 1931, which is the same year that Jacob’s story in Water for Elephants begins. I took it as a good omen, after all, pennies tend to be considered lucky.
Around 1pm, IamMelissa said our goodbyes which was really difficult. After her cab to the airport pulled away, I was left with 2 hours to kill before catching my train. So, I opted to walk down Broadway in the warm sunshine. What an incredible experience! I cannot even begin to describe all the sights, sounds, and smells. There was so much life and energy. It was great to walk among the crowd by myself and not have to worry about kids in tow or staying together, etc. I got to absorb it all. As I walked, I reflected on the incredible experience I just had. That’s when I decided to write this down. I know this is long, but there is still so much more that I left out. NYC was an incredibly warm and friendly city.
I am very thankful to women who run both the Robsessed and the WaterForElephants Film blogs. Without them, I would not have had the incredible experience that I had, nor would I have met the wonderful people that I did. I am grateful to my loving husband who encouraged me to do this and took care of the kids and everything else on the home front. Mine was not the only supportive husband, not only did many take care of the home front, but there were a couple of husbands who actually spent the cold, wet, night on the sidewalk together with their wives. Would I do it again? I’m not so sure. It really and truly sucked being that wet and cold for that long. I don’t ever want to feel that way again. But, I am very glad and proud that WE did it.

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